Chromecast on Android TV now supports background audio streaming

Have you ever wanted to listen to an audio stream while navigating your Android TV interface and found you can’t? No, neither have I, but if you have we’ve got good news for you, now you can.

In a background update, it seems Google has quietly dropped the feature into the Chromecast built-in app that allows you to stream any audio via Chromecast and navigate around the Android TV UI. While this seems to have limited use it’s still a nice option and we’re not ones to criticise more options and flexibility in the use of our tech.

We’ve tested the feature and it is working for us on an NVIDIA Shield TV (OG model) running the latest Chromecast Built-in beta. When you are streaming there is a persistent notification at the top of the card-based allowing you to jump back to the casting control screen at any time.

Duncan has been interested in technology since coding "Mary had a little Lamb" in Basic on his ZX Spectrum. A fan of all things Android, most days you'll find Duncan trawling the web for Android news or quietly editing away on Map Maker.

This is good in that it can eliminate the need to have a (now extinct) Chromecast Audio plugged into a sound system for music streaming as the TV can now do it. Currently I have both my TV and a Chromecast Audio hooked up to individual receiver inputs. The Chromecast Audio is part of a Google Home group for whole house music streaming. Now the Chromecast Audio is technically not needed.

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Paul

17 days ago

Hi,
Photo/slideshows playing on the shield with music in the background is something I often do.
I know spotify/plex can do that already using apps on the shield, but perhaps there are some castable apps which are not available on shield?
I’ve not checked, but if the chromecast builtin works as a grouped speaker in the background, it maybe another reason. You could then watch the shield without breaking the speaker group.

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Max

17 days ago

It’s always worked this way if you use the apps within Android TV. This just changes it so that the behaviour is the same if you cast to it from a phone.

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